By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Juan Deleon, HCU Athletics
HOUSTON – As the offense came and went for the Northwestern State men’s basketball team Saturday afternoon at Sharp Gym, the Demons leaned on their staple.
Northwestern limited homestanding Houston Christian to one field goal in the final four minutes, allowing the Demons to grab a 64-57 Southland Conference victory and the program’s first 2-0 start in league play since the 2012-13 season.
“That’s our staple,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “These guys wake up from sleeping thinking about defense. That’s all we talk about. They’re talented enough to score, but if you defend, it will take care of a lot of things. They buckled down and got the rebounds when they needed to.”
The Demons (4-5, 2-0) built a seven-point halftime lead thanks in large part to an offense that shot 55.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Just as it did in the final minutes of the game, Northwestern’s defense shined late in the first half, holding HCU (3-7, 1-1) to a 2-for-9 finish from the field.
The Huskies nearly erased the halftime deficit in short order, scoring the first six points of the half before Addison Patterson quelled the run with a 3-pointer.
Patterson’s shot was his lone long-distance bucket of the game, but the 6-foot-7 senior delivered a career-best scoring performance by constantly attacking the HCU defense.
Patterson hit 10 of 16 shots, finishing with 25 points to lead all scorers. His three-point play with 21 seconds remaining gave the Demons a two-possession lead for the first time since Willie Williams’ putback layup put Northwestern ahead 54-49 with 4:55 to play.
That rebound and bucket gave Williams a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double while playing in his hometown.
“I got my family in the crowd and some friends,” said Williams, whose thunderous putback dunk snapped a 22-all tie and started a 9-0 run in the first half. “It definitely feels good to be back at home and get a win.”
The Huskies, buoyed by the fast start to the second half, kept chipping away and drew even at 44 with 11:33 to play and at 54 with 3:55 remaining. Each time, the Northwestern defense responded, never allowing HCU to grab a lead.
After Julian Mackey’s three-point play with 3:55 remaining landed the final tie of the game, Jon Sanders II and Patterson took over offensively and defensively.
The Demon seniors combined to score the final 10 points of the game, including consecutive three-point plays down the stretch to cap the Demons’ back-to-back road wins.
Sanders delivered the dagger by picking Elijah Brooks’ pocket at midcourt and turned it into a three-point play, tacking on the last of his 17 points.
“That’s where you win the game,” said Patterson, who had three of the Demons’ six steals. “When it’s clutch time, especially when you’re on the road and they’re in their gym and they know the rims, you have to sit down and make every shot a tough one. We did that. We forced a lot of turnovers and we got to celebrate in transition.
“We have athletes and scorers. We’ve got to play defense. When we play defense, we get to enjoy some fun offense.”
The Demons return to action in a week when they travel to California. Tipoff for the first meeting between the Demons and Golden Bears is set for 2 p.m. Central Standard Time.